China's nuclear generation capacity increased by 87% in a decade with standardized building strategy

From 2016 to 2024, China's nuclear generation capacity increased 76 per cent (24 GW), with the country adding an additional 1.1 GW of nuclear power capacity in 2025 and 2.2 GW through May 2026. This brought China's total operational capacity to 58.7 GW (+86.9%) across 60 operational reactors at 18 different sites, according to a report by the U.S. Energy Information Administration based on its International Energy Statistics data. Citing the International Atomic Energy Agency's Power Reactor Information System, the report mentioned that China is continuing to build out its nuclear generating capacity.

The nation has 36 reactors under construction across 19 sites, which account for more than 49 per cent of total world nuclear construction and will add about 38.9 GW of additional capacity. China's nuclear fleet is concentrated near population centers in the eastern part of the country, along the Pacific Ocean coastline from the Liaoning province in the north to the Hainan province in the south. The existing nuclear fleet mostly consists of pressurized water reactors, and the country implemented specific strategies to help rapidly expand its plant fleet. "Nuclear projects in China use a standardized project management approach for design, licensing, and construction for multiple reactor technologies," the report stated. "Reactors are built in batches of 6 to 10 reactors to take advantage of economies of scale," the report added.

"China is also building up a nuclear supply chain with a focus on domestic manufacturing of the main plant components to decrease reliance on foreign nuclear vendors." Additionally, China's average build time for nuclear power plants is below the global average. Citing the World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2022, the administration stated that average build time for a nuclear power plant in China between 2012 and 2021 was six years, compared with a global average construction time of about nine years. More recent reporting in 2024 similarly indicated that Chinese firms built reactors both inside and outside of China in five to seven years. As per the report, China started construction of six new reactors in 2025 and two new reactors, Xuwei-1 and Taipingling-4, through May 2026. The country also commissioned two new units so far in 2026, namely Sanao-1 and Taipingling-1. China is currently building its first small modular reactor, the Linglong-1, which is a domestically designed 100 MWe pressurized water reactor that can be used for power generation, water desalination, and district heating. "The project is intended to demonstrate commercial operation and is expected to start operation in the first half of 2026," the report noted. "The Linglong-1 uses the ACP100 SMR design, a modular design, allowing certain components to be built in a factory and installed onsite."